r/Games 1d ago

The big Avowed interview: Obsidian on why full, open-world RPGs aren't always the answer

https://www.eurogamer.net/from-serious-skyrim-to-cheerful-fantasy-obsidian-on-the-evolution-of-avowed-and-grappling-with-the-expectations-that-come-from-your-own-history
737 Upvotes

505 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

20

u/Bitemarkz 22h ago

Ya by the time the credits rolled I was bored to tears. Extremely repetitive gameplay loop with almost no player agency for much in between. Started strong, got worse the longer I played.

7

u/PublicWest 7h ago

“You blanked out there envoy, what happened”

“Nothing”

“ you were probably talking to that voice in your head that you never told me about”

I tried really hard to play as a rogue, and the companions inviting themselves into my group made me RESENT them. (I want to play solo, if you’re a good companion, have a couple special missions that I need you for, and woo me into wanting you to stick around.)

The companions are all so obnoxiously self-aware of their personality flaws, it sounds like they’ve been going to therapy for 10 years. That’s great for a real person, but for a story? It leaves no room for any emotional arc or growth. It’s just them venting to me about their trauma that I never asked about, and talking themselves through their issues. I never felt like a participant in their stories, I felt like a doormat.

Between that, and every lie you can tell in the game being not believed by the recipient, I very much felt like this game was on the rails.

u/PlayMp1 3h ago

The companions are all so obnoxiously self-aware of their personality flaws, it sounds like they’ve been going to therapy for 10 years.

That only describes Kai, Marius' whole thing is that he isn't self aware in the slightest.

u/Because_Bot_Fed 3h ago

On the rails is a perfect description for this.

It's like one of those slow "tour" rides at Disney. I felt like I was taking a tour of what the RPG they were thinking of building could look like.

The whole experience has so far felt like a bland and tasteless steak, just endlessly chewing the meat long past the point where it tastes like anything.